Pensacola Navy Yard in Letters and Documents: 1860s
PART IV
By John G. M. Sharp
At
USGenWeb Archives
Copyright.
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The
United States Steam Sloop of War Pensacola Passing the
Rebel Batteries in the Potomac, January 11, 1862
Harper's Weekly. 1 February 1862.
The steam frigate USS Pensacola was launched by the Pensacola Navy Yard on August 15, 1859, and commissioned there on December 5, 1859, for towing to Washington Navy Yard for installation of machinery. She was decommissioned January 31, 1860, and commissioned in full on September 16, 1861, Captain Henry W. Morris in command. She was decommissioned 6 December 1911.
The Confederate Pensacola Navy Yard January 1862
Commander Thomas Wilson BrentOn 12 January 1861 Commodore James Armstrong USN surrendered the Pensacola Navy Yard to the Confederate forces of William H. Chase. Commander Thomas Wilson Brent Confederate States Navy assumed command. Thomas W. Brent 1808-1875 was appointed a midshipman on 1 March 1825 and was promoted to Commander USN. In 1855 Brent resigned his commission on 19 January 1861 and was appointed a Commander in the Confederate States Navy in March 1861. Following the Confederate withdraw from Pensacola on 9 May 1862, Brent was later stationed in Savannah, Georgia, and subsequently became part of the defense of Red River. In 1863 he commanded the CSS Savannah with the Savannah Squadron and at wars end Brent was made prisoner and paroled May 22, 1865, at Mobile, Ala. After the war Commodore Brent worked for a fire insurance company.
Enslaved laborers figure prominently on this and other Pensacola payrolls. In early Florida a shortage of labor quickly made the use of enslaved labor dominant and extremely profitable for local slaveholders. From the 1820s to the 1860s, enslaved laborers was used by the federal government to build, repair and maintain the many buildings and structures that comprised the Navy Yard and forts lining Pensacola Bay. In areas occupied by Union forces, enslaved labor was continued to be utilized from the outbreak of the Civil War. The records of the U.S. Army Corps engineers reflect no significant changes regarding reliance on enslaved labor until the Emancipation Proclamation. Transcription: This muster was transcribed from NARA, RG - 45, microfilm roll 158, pages 23 -27. Roll 158 is particularly difficult to read, as the film is old and parts of the original documents appear to have suffered considerable damage, prior to filming. I have striven to adhere as closely as possible to the original in spelling, capitalization, punctuation and abbreviation (e.g. "…. , “ , Do" or "do" for ditto or same as above) including the retention of dashes, ampersands and overstrikes. The two departures from the original text is the highlighting of the top line information and the trade or occupational titles. Where I was unable to print a clear image or where it was not possible to determine what was written, I have so noted in brackets. Where possible, I have attempted to arrange the transcribed material in a similar manner to that found in the text. All transcriptions are mine.
Pay Roll for the Officers of the Navy and Others Employed in the Navy Yard at Pensacola and Warrant & Petty Officers, Sea O Sea and Engineers on Board the Gun Boat Bradford January 1862
1. Thomas W. Brent 2. John Peterson 3. Joseph D. Grafton 4. Saml Z. Gonzales 5. Donald Davidson 6. G.G. Patterson 7. George P. Brown 8. Coleman Gonzales 9. John Abram 10. David Taylor 11. Willis Hadley 12. William Bond 13. John Penns 14. John O’Brian 15. Michael Burnt 16. George Wilson 17. Daniel Hessner 18. Augustus Dahlman 20. George Washington 21. William Essex 22. Abner Lee Page 2
23. Alwin Gonzales 24. Stephen Chapman 25. David Tripp 26. William Sands 27. Simon Blant 28. Carter Gonzales 29 Isaac Gonzales 30. Alfred Kelly 31. William T. Morill 32. John Bright 33. Charles Antonio 34. Webb Merill 35. Samuel Jones 36. John Taylor 37. John Hanafy 38. Peter McGinn 39. Michael Davis 40. Joseph Verdine 41. C.H.Snell 42. William Rainbow 43. James Ward 44. Charles Wells 45. James Carey 46. George Williams 47. Marius Dorning 48. Jacob [Illegible] 49. William Moore 50. Bryan W.Wynn Approved Thomas W. Brent Commandant
White & Slave Laborers employed repairing public property and the Navy Yard* * * * * * * * * *
Confederate troops at Camp Warrington Pensacola Navy Yard 1862* * * * * * * * * *
